Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Downgraded to Hold Rating by DZ Bank

DZ Bank lowered shares of Walmart (NYSE:WMT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. DZ Bank currently has $91.00 target price on the retailer’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Walmart from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.88.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $90.44 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $726.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.51. Walmart has a 52-week low of $49.85 and a 52-week high of $90.91. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.94.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Walmart will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.48, for a total transaction of $232,440.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 384,165 shares in the company, valued at $29,765,104.20. The trade was a 0.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total value of $313,228,886.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,823,647. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walmart

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,720 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,915,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.3% in the third quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 43,549 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,591,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.4% during the third quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC now owns 32,633 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,635,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. CAP Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. CAP Partners LLC now owns 6,054 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $489,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Walmart by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,182 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $499,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

About Walmart

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, other units, and eCommerce worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, and discount stores under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, PhonePe and other sites; and mobile commerce applications.